Glass cleaning device

ABSTRACT

A glass cleaning device for use in a sink well filled with a washing solution is disclosed. The device includes a first guide member secured in an open-top receptacle, the guide member being formed of flexible fingers arranged in a cylindrical pattern. A cylindrically shaped sponge-like sleeve is fitted on the first guide member. A reciprocating cam assembly is arranged within the first sleeve such that when a small glass is pressed against it the fingers of the first sleeve are urged outwardly whereby the top portion of the sleeve contacts the glass while another part of the top portion of the sleeve contacts the outer edge of the glass. The device also includes a second guide member formed of cylindrically arranged flexible fingers with a hollow sponge-like sleeve arranged within the guide member and against the outer surface of the first sleeve. A large glass would be placed over the first sleeve which will contact the inner surface of the glass while the outer surface of the glass is contacted by the second sleeve. Should the outer dimension of the glass be greater than the inner diameter of the second guide member the fingers thereof would be flexed outwardly.

United States Patent Behnk Oct. 21, 1975 1 GLASS CLEANING DEVICE [75}Inventor: Donald .1. Behnk, Allison Park, Pa.

[73] Assignees: William Hoffman; Morris Goldberg,

both of Pittsburgh, Pa.

[22] Filed: Dec. 9. 1974 [21] Appl. No: 530,739

[52] U.S. Cl. 15/244 R; 15/211 [51] int. Cl. t. A47L 15/00; B08B 9/00[58] Field of Search .1 15/76 101, 164, I65. 15/211-213, 244 R, 244 CH[56] References Cited .UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,936,259 11/1933 Parmer15/101 X 2,248,389 7/1941 Sanders et a1 i 15/212 UX 2,506,075 5/1950Fleury i i i i 15/164 X 3,441,970 5/1969 Krabal 15/211 X FOREIGN PATENTSOR APPLICATIONS 1,680 1/1903 United Kingdom 15/76 PrimaryExaminer--Daniel Blum Attorney, Agent, or FirmPaul Bogdon [57] ABSTRACTA glass cleaning device for use in a sink well filled with a washingsolution is disclosed The device includes a first guide member securedin an open-top receptacle, the guide member being formed of flexiblefingers arranged in a cylindrical pattern. A cylindrically shapedsponge-like sleeve is fitted on the first guide member. A reciprocatingcam assembly is arranged within the first sleeve such that when a smallglass is pressed against it the fingers of the first sleeve are urgedoutwardly whereby the top portion of the sleeve contacts the glass whileanother part of the top portion of the sleeve contacts the outer edge ofthe glass The device also includes a second guide member formed ofcylindrically arranged flexible fingers with a hollow sponge-like sleevearranged within the guide member and against the outer surface of thefirst sleeve. A large glass would be placed over the first sleeve whichwill contact the inner surface of the glass while the outer surface ofthe glass is contacted by the second sleeve. Should the outer dimensionof the glass be greater than the inner diameter of the second guidemember the fingers thereof would be flexed out wardly.

11 Claims. 7 Drawing Figures U.S. Patent 0a. 21, 1975 Sheet 2 of43,913,165

Fig. 20

U.S. Patent Oct. 21, 1975 Sheet3of4 3,913,165

GLASS CLEANING DEVICE BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relatesgenerally to a drinking glass or receptacle cleaning device and moreparticularly to a cleaning device submerged in a sink or tub filled witha washing solution into which a glass, tumbler, cup, or the like isinserted and rotated or reciprocated by hand to clean the interior andexterior surfaces and rid the same of stains, such as lipstick marks, orthe like.

Glass cleaning devices are well known and have their principleapplications in business establishments such as restaurants, taverns,cafes, and the like. They provide the operator of such establishmentswith a quick convenience in cleaning glasses which have been used bycustomers, especially in those cases where only one individual isavailable to serve customers and at the same time must have on hand aready supply of clean glasses for customer use. Wherever such glasscleaning devices are used it can be expected that a wide variety ofdifferently sized and shaped glasses may be found. In a tavern, forexample, the glasses would range from small whiskey glasses to largebeer mugs having the usual handle on them. A problem has persisted ineffectively cleaning all of the different shaped glasses with a singleglass cleaning device. Some glass cleaning devices will not easily cleana large beer mug while others cannot effectively clean a small whiskeyglass. In such cases the operator of the establishment must resort toalternative methods, such as hand scrubbing, to clean the odd sized,hard-to-clean glasses. Hand scrubbing is time consuming and inefficient.The alternative solution to cleaning the odd sized glasses could be tohave several glass cleaning devices each designed to clean certain sizedglasses. That alternative is undesirable because of the compact sizes ofsinks generally found in taverns and restaurants and because of theexpense in having multiple devices on hand.

In addition to their inability to clean odd sizes of glasses, thecleaning devices commonly used are inef fective in completely removingcigarette ashes or lipstick stains left on the surfaces of some cups orglasses. Various attampts have been made to remedy the stain removingproblem but no widespread acceptable device has yet reached the market.

The present invention overcomes the above noted problems of existingglass cleaning devices and provides a devce which by itself willeffectively and efficiently clean any shape and size of glass commonlyfound in business establishments. Thus, a small whiskey glass to a largebeer mug, and all shaped and sized glasses and cup in between arespotlessly cleaned by the device of this invention.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides a glass cleaningdevice which, in its preferred form, includes a base memher; an open-topcup-like receptacle secured at its bottom portion to the base member; afirst upwardly extending hollow guide member secured in place withrespect to the receptacle, the walls of the first guide member beingconstructed and arranged to flex outwardly when urged in that directionand to return to its original position when the urging force is removed;a cylindrically shaped first hollow sleeve formed of sponge-likematerial having a closed top and sized to fit snugly around a majorportion of the first guide memher; urging means for urging the walls ofthe first guide member outwardly; the first guide member, first sleeve,and urging means being so constructed and arranged with respect to eachother that when a glass is pushed downwardly on the urging means thewalls of the first guide means flex outwardly carrying the first sleevewith it whereby a top portion of the first sleeve enters into the glasswhile another part of the top portion of the first sleeve contacts theouter edge of the glass and the glass may be rotated to simultaneouslyclean its inside and edge portions; a second upwardly extending hollowguide member secured in place with respect to the receptacle and spacedradially outwardly of the first guide member to define an annular spacetherebetween, the walls of the second guide member being constructed andarranged to flex outwardly when urged in that direction and to return toits original position when the urging force is removed; a cylindricallyshaped second hollow sleeve formed of a sponge-like material sized tofit snugly within the second guide member and against the outer surfaceof the first sleeve; and the second guide member and second sleeve beingso constructed and arranged with respect to each that when a glass isplaced over the first sleeve the inner portion of the glass is contactedby the outer surface of the first sleeve while the outer portion of theglass is contacted by the inner surface of the second sleeve and thewall of the second guide member is flexed outwardly should the glassbeing washed be greater in size than the inner diameter of the secondguide member.

In the preferred form of the invention both the first and second guidemembers are formed of separated fingers arranged in a generallycylindrical pattern. An upwardly urged cam assembly is disposed withinthe first guide member to urge the fingers outwardly when a small glass,such as a whiskey glass, is pushed down on the cam. When a large glass,such as a beer mug, is to be cleaned it is pushed down over the firstsleeve and the handle of the mug pushes out the fingers of the second orouter guide member. Also in its preferred form, the elements of theinvention are interconnected in such a manner as to allow easydisassembly and assembly of the device.

Various other advantages, details and modifications of the presentinvention will become apparent as the following description of a presentpreferred embodiment thereof proceeds.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In the accompanying drawings I haveshown a present preferred embodiment of the present invention in which:

FIG. 1 is an elevation view in cross-section of a preferred embodimentof the present invention;

FIGS. 2a and 2b are perspective views showing the elements of the deviceof FIG. 1 detached from each other;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the first guide member forming part ofthe present invention showing the outward movement of the fingersresulting from the downward urging of the cam assembly;

FIG. 4 is an elevation view in cross-section of the first guide membertogether with the first sleeve and a small glass being urged downwardlyon the cam assembly;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the second guide member and secondsleeve forming part of the present invention and a beer mug being urgeddownwardly with one of the fingers of the second guide member beingurged outwardly; and

FIG. 6 is a partial elevation-a1 view in cross-section showing certainof the elements of the present invention co-acting to clean a beer mug.

Referring now to the drawings. there is shown in FIG. 1 the assembledview of the glass cleaning device 10 embodying the present invention.The device 10 includes a base member 12 having an annular shape withfour slotted openings 14 disposed 90 degrees of each other and used fordischarging water therethrough when the device 10 is immersed in a sinkbasin of water and cleaning solution. The bottom of the base member 12is shaped to receive a suction cup member 16 which includes a pluralityof regularly spaced suction cups which serve to fix the device 10 ontothe flat surface such as a sink bottom. The suction cup member 16 issecured to the base member 12 by any suitable means such as by fixing itwith an adhesive. A cup shaped, flared top receptacle 18 is snuglyfitted into the base member 12. The bottom of the receptacle 18 isgenerally closed with a center opening 19 shaped to receive a key lock.to be described later, four slotted openings 20 of the same size as theopening I4 in the base mem ber 12 with the openings 20 and 14 beingaligned during assembly of the device 10 for water to flow when thedevice is immersed during use.

A first guide member 24 is arranged centrally of the receptacle l8 andis formed ofa plurality of elongated fingers 25 secured in a pivotablemanner at their lower ends to a lower cup-shaped annular section 26, thefingers 25 forming a cylindrical pattern are constructed and arranged tobe urged radially outwardly into a frustaconical pattern as shown inFIGS. 3 and 4. Each of the fingers 25 has a radially inwardly extendingcam follower 27 formed thereon and shaped and sized to be engaged by adisc-shaped cam 28 forming part ofa cam assembly 29 arranged within theconfines of the first guide member 24. A downwardly extending shaft 30is fixed to the underside of the cam 28 and is sized to fit in aslidable relationship into a cylinder 32 secured to the bottom surface33 of the first guide member 24. As shown in FIG. 1 the cam assembly 29is urged upwardly by a helical coil spring 34 arranged in the bottom ofcylinder 32 to engage the bottom of shaft 30. The spring 34 urges thecam assembly 29 to a point where the cam 28 is above the cam followers27. The material used in the construction of the first guide member 24should have a resiliency characteristic to permit the fingers 25 toreturn to the cylindrical pattern whenever the cam 28 is returned to itsneutral position as shown in FIG. 1. The cylinder 32 extends through thebottom of annular section 26 with the lower end being generally closedexcept for a drainage opening 35 provided therethrough and having a pairof radially extending diametrically opposed tabs 34 secured thereto. Thetabs 34' and outer diameter of the cylinder 32 are sized to fit into theslotted opening 19 provided in the bottom of receptacle 18. Whenassembling the first guide member 24, the cylinder 32 is aligned withopening 19, placed therethrough and rotated so that the tabs 34 aredisplaced away from the slots of opening 19. The first guide member 24is thereby fixed with respect to the receptacle IS. The first guidemember 24 is secured in place by means of a pressure disc 37 fitted intoa cen trally located bore 36 formed in the top surface of the suctioncup member 16. The material of the suction cup member 16 is of aresilient nature and the disc 37 is arranged and sized to bias the firstguide member 24 upwardly by acting on the end of the cylinder 32. Todisassemble the guide member 24 from the receptacle 18, the guide memberis pushed downwardly whereby the disc 37 acts against the resilientmaterial of the suction cup member 16 to overcome the locking force, theguide member rotated to align the tabs 34 with the slots of opening 19and the guide member lifted out.

The cam assembly 29 is also provided with an upwardly extending stem 38centrally secured to the upper surface of the cam 28 and sized to engagethe inner surface of a hollow, generally cylindrically shaped firstsleeve 40 which in turn is sized to fit snugly on the outside surfacesof the fingers 25 of the first guide member 24, as shown clearly inFIGS. 1 and 4. The sleeve 40 is formed from a sponge like materialsuitable for acting against a glass surface to clean it. and islongitudinally sized to reach downwardly to the annular section 26 ofthe first guide member 24 which may be provided a band of lockingmaterial 41 such as Velcro material, secured to its outer surface forholding the sleeve 40 in place to the guide member 24 while at the sametime permitting the sleeve to be easily removed if desired. The outerdiameter of the sleeve 40 is of such a dimension as to be sufficient toengage the inner surface of glass so that cleaning action by the sleevemay be transmitted to the glass, as shown by way of example in FIG. 6. Asecond guide member 44 is ar ranged centrally of the receptacle l8 andis formed of a plurality of elongated fingers 45 secured in a pivotablemanner at their lower ends to a lower cup-shaped annular section 46integral with a flat bottom section 47 having a slotted opening 48through the center thereof shaped and located to align with the slottedopening 19 of receptacle 18 for receiving the tab 34' and bottom portionof cylinder 32 of the first guide member 24. The fingers 45 are arrangedin a generally cylindrical pattern with a radially outwardly flare atthe mouth or upper end. Four slots 51 spaced degrees apart are providedin bottom section 47 and annular section 46 for drainage purposes andare arranged to align with the drainage openings 14 of the base member10 and slotted openings 20 of the receptacle 18. The material used inthe construction of the second guide member 44 should have a resiliencycharacteristic to permit the fingers 45 to return their originalcylindrical pattern whenever a flexing force such as would be applied bya large glass, as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, is removed. The flareconfiguration of the mouth of the second guide member 44 permits ease ofemplacement of a large glass into the guide member. The inner diameterof the second guide member 44 is of such a dimension as to form a spacewith the sleeve 40 sufficient to accommodate another glass cleaningsleeve as described below.

A hollow, generally cylindrical, open ended sleeve 50 formed from asponge-like material is removably received in the second guide member 44and is sized to fit snugly against the inside wall surfaces of thefingers 45, as shown in FIG. I. The upper portion of the sleeve 50overlaps the fingers 45 and extends downwardly to an intermediateposition of the outer surfaces of the fingers. As shown in FIG. 1. thesleeve 50 extends to the bottom of the inside surfaces of the annularsection 46. The thickness of the sleeve 50 is such that the innersurface of the portion within the guide member 44 abuts the lower outersection of the first sleeve 40. The elasticity of the sleeves 40 and 50and the sizes of the first guide member 24 and second guide member 44are such to permit a glass to be placed over the first guide member 24and sleeve 40, as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, and within the confines of thesecond guide member 44 and to permit rotation or reciprocation of theglass to thereby clean the glass.

A pair of self threading screws 60 serves to hold the base member 12,receptacle l8, and second guide member 44 together. Suitable holes areprovided through the suction cup member 16, receptacle l8 and secondguide member 44 to accept the screws 60.

FIGS. 3 and 4 show the action of the cam assembly 29, fingers 25, andfirst sleeve 40 when a small glass such as the whiskey glass illustratedis to be cleaned by the device of the present invention. The glass isplaced centrally of the sleeve 40 and urged downwardly so that the innerbottom of the glass presses on the stem 38 to urge the cam 28 downwardlyto engage the cam followers 27 and thereby urge the fingers 2S outwardlyas shown. The lip section of the glass enters within the confines of thefirst guide member 24 and is engaged by an upper surface section of thesleeve 40 while the entire inner surface of the glass is engaged byanother section of the top of the sleeve 40. The glass may then berotated to clean the interior and the outer section around the lip.

it should now be clearly understood how the advantages of the presentinvention as specified in the introductory portion of this specificationare achieved. In addition to that it is to be noted that the elementscomprising the glass cleaning device of this invention may be easilydisassembled from each other simply by removing the screws 60 andtwisting the first guide member 24 into its unlocked position aspreviously described. Assembling the elements is equally simple. Also,the elements may be constructed so that essentially they are separatefrom each other so' that should one element be damaged only that elementneed be replaced rather than the entire device. It should also be notedthat the cleaning sleeves are easily removed for replacement or cleaningwithout the need for disassembling the supporting elements or evenremoving the device from a sink. Finally, it is to be emphasized thatthe glass cleaning device of this invention has been proven to cleanglasses found in business establishments in an efficient and effectivemanner.

While I have shown and described a present preferred embodiment of thisinvention, it is to be distinctly understood that the invention is notlimited thereto, but may be otherwise variously embodied within thescope of the following claims.

I claim:

1. A glass cleaning device comprising:

a base;

an open-top cup-like receptacle secured at its bottom portion to saidbase;

a first upwardly extending, hollow guide member secured in place withrespect to said receptacle, the walls of said first guide member beingconstructed and arranged to flex outwardly when urged in that directionand to return to its original position when the urging force is removed;

a first hollow sleeve formed of sponge-like material having a closed topand sized to fit snugly around a major portion of said first guidemember;

urging means for urging the walls of said first guide member outwardly;

said first guide member, first sleeve, and urging means being soconstructed and arranged with re spect to each other that when a glassis pushed downwardly on said urging means the walls of said first guidemeans flex outwardly carrying the first sleeve with it whereby a topportion of the first sleeve enters into the glass while another part ofthe top portion of the first sleeve contacts the outer edge of the glassand the glass may be rotated to simultaneously clean its inside and edgeportions;

a second upwardly extending hollow guide member secured in place withrespect to said receptacle and spaced radially outwardly of the firstguide member to define an annular space therebetween, the wall of saidsecond guide member being constructed and arranged to flex outwardlywhen urged in that direction and to return to its original position whenthe urging force is removed;

a second hollow sleeve formed of a sponge-like material sized to fitsnugly within the second guide member and against the outer surface ofsaid first sleeve; and

said second guide member and second sleeve being so constructed andarranged with respect to each other that when a larger glass is placedover said first sleeve the inner portion of the glass is contacted bythe outer surface of said first sleeve while the outer portion of theglass is contacted by the inner surface of the second sleeve and thewall of the second guide member is flexed outwardly should the glassbeing washed be greater in size than the inner diameter of the secondguide member.

2. A glass cleaning device as set forth in claim 1 including suctionmeans secured to the bottom of said base in a fixed relationship with aflat surface.

3. A glass cleaning device as set forth in claim 1 wherein said firstguide member is formed of a plurality of separated fingers, each beingpivotally connected at its bottom end to a ring-shaped section of thefirst guide member.

4. A glass cleaning device as set forth in claim I including securingmeans for holding said first sleeve in a fixed position on said firstguide member.

5. A glass cleaning device as set forth in claim 1 wherein said secondsleeve is sized to extend down along a major portion of the innersurface of said second guide member and to fold over the top edge ofsaid second guide member to extend downwardly to an intermediateposition of the outer surface of said second guide member.

6. A glass cleaning device as set forth in claim 1 wherein the uppersection of said second guide member is flared radially outwardly.

7. A glass cleaning device as set forth in claim 1 wherein said secondsleeve has cylindrical shape and said second guide member also has acylindrical shape.

8. A glass cleaning device as set forth in claim 1 wherein said secondguide member is formed of a plurality of separated fingers, each beingpivotally connected at its bottom end to a ring-shaped section of thesecond guide member.

11. A glass cleaning device as set forth in claim 1 wherein said urgingmeans includes an upwardly extending stem member arranged to engage thetop portion of the first sleeve and to extend to a point adjacent thebottom of the inner portion of a glass whereby the top portion of saidfirst sleeve will be forced into the inner surface of a glass pusheddownwardly on said stem.

1. A glass cleaning device comprising: a base; an open-top cup-likereceptacle secured at its bottom portion to said base; a first upwardlyextending, hollow guide member secured in place with respect to saidreceptacle, the walls of said first guide member being constructed andarranged to flex outwardly when urged in that direction and to return toits original position when the urging force is removed; a first hollowsleeve formed of sponge-like material having a closed top and sized tofit snugly around a major portion of said first guide member; urgingmeans for urging the walls of said first guide member outwardly; saidfirst guide member, first sleeve, and urging means being so constructedand arranged with respect to each other that when a glass is pusheddownwardly on said urging means the walls of said first guide means flexoutwardly carrying the first sleeve with it whereby a top portion of thefirst sleeve enters into the glass while another part of the top portionof the first sleeve contacts the outer edge of the glass and the glassmay be rotated to simultaneously clean its inside and edge portions; asecond upwardly extending hollow guide member secured in place withrespect to said receptacle and spaced radially outwardly of the firstguide member to define an annular space therebetween, the wall of saidsecond guide member being constructed and arranged to flex outwardlywhen urged in that direction and to return to its original position whenthe urging force is removed; a second hollow sleeve formed of asponge-like material sized to fit snugly within the second gUide memberand against the outer surface of said first sleeve; and said secondguide member and second sleeve being so constructed and arranged withrespect to each other that when a larger glass is placed over said firstsleeve the inner portion of the glass is contacted by the outer surfaceof said first sleeve while the outer portion of the glass is contactedby the inner surface of the second sleeve and the wall of the secondguide member is flexed outwardly should the glass being washed begreater in size than the inner diameter of the second guide member.
 2. Aglass cleaning device as set forth in claim 1 including suction meanssecured to the bottom of said base in a fixed relationship with a flatsurface.
 3. A glass cleaning device as set forth in claim 1 wherein saidfirst guide member is formed of a plurality of separated fingers, eachbeing pivotally connected at its bottom end to a ring-shaped section ofthe first guide member.
 4. A glass cleaning device as set forth in claim1 including securing means for holding said first sleeve in a fixedposition on said first guide member.
 5. A glass cleaning device as setforth in claim 1 wherein said second sleeve is sized to extend downalong a major portion of the inner surface of said second guide memberand to fold over the top edge of said second guide member to extenddownwardly to an intermediate position of the outer surface of saidsecond guide member.
 6. A glass cleaning device as set forth in claim 1wherein the upper section of said second guide member is flared radiallyoutwardly.
 7. A glass cleaning device as set forth in claim 1 whereinsaid second sleeve has cylindrical shape and said second guide memberalso has a cylindrical shape.
 8. A glass cleaning device as set forth inclaim 1 wherein said second guide member is formed of a plurality ofseparated fingers, each being pivotally connected at its bottom end to aring-shaped section of the second guide member.
 9. A glass cleaningdevice as set forth in claim 3 wherein each of said fingers includes acam follower on the inside surface thereof; and wherein said urgingmeans includes an upwardly and downwardly reciprocating cam memberarranged to simultaneously engage each of said cam followers, andbiasing means urging said cam member in an upwardly direction.
 10. Aglass cleaning device as set forth in claim 1 including locking meansfor detachably locking said first guide member to said receptacle.
 11. Aglass cleaning device as set forth in claim 1 wherein said urging meansincludes an upwardly extending stem member arranged to engage the topportion of the first sleeve and to extend to a point adjacent the bottomof the inner portion of a glass whereby the top portion of said firstsleeve will be forced into the inner surface of a glass pusheddownwardly on said stem.